Wolves: Mick McCarthy's just loving the scrap

MICK McCarthy admits a second year of battling the drop has got him loving the managerial game more than ever.

MICK McCarthy admits a second year of battling the drop has got him loving the managerial game more than ever.

The 52-year-old is the fifth longest-serving Premier League boss behind the big three of Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and David Moyes and Stoke’s Tony Pulis – by a month.

“I love it, every bit of it. I’ve no intention of packing it in. It ain’t killing me, is it? I only look 24! I’m enjoying the scrap very much,” McCarthy said.

“I’d love to be safe on 45 points, that would be great, but it’s brilliant. The games, the contest amongst everybody, the banter, the mind games that go on. It’s fabulous, all of it.”

McCarthy says the pressure is on Villa in tomorrow’s derby, adding: “Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather have 33 points and be looking down. Don’t anybody think I’m happy, but I know what I’d be doing every week on 33 points.

“It’s like when we were top of the Championship and we didn’t win. You’d hope the others didn’t win and thankfully most weeks they didn’t but the pressure was amazing.’’